Insect growth regulators (e.g., pesticides) have enjoyed widespread use in commercial agriculture and have enabled an enormous increase in crop yields and product quality. Pesticides are also routinely used to control various insects, as for example flies or mosquitoes, when pest populations pose a nuisance or health hazard to humans or livestock.
One of the conventional formulations of a pesticide is an emulsifiable concentrate (EC). Such concentrates are later diluted prior to use. Some examples of such compositions are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,864 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,960.
Conventional EC formulations are typically made with solvents having high solvency for a large number of pesticides, such as aromatic hydrocarbon solvents. However, one of the disadvantages of aromatic hydrocarbon solvents is that they are considered volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and, therefore, are harmful to the environment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a VOC as an organic compound that participates in atmospheric photochemical reactions, but makes exceptions for compounds that have negligible photochemical reactivity. VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. They include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Conventional EC formulations generally contain 50-90% by weight VOCs.
There is, therefore, a need to identify effective insect growth regulator compositions that contain low amounts of VOCs.